This course will introduce students to the principal ideas of three leading thinkers in the history of Western political thought in the nineteenth century: Marx, Mill and Nietzsche.  Although the course is principally text-based, some attention will be given to the background context within which their ideas developed.  Recurring themes will be stressed, such as the relationship between morality and politics, the nature of liberty and the justification of political authority

At the end of the course, students should: (1) be familiar with selected key texts in nineteenth century Western political thought and their principal ideas; (2) be familiar with some of the background context to these texts; (3) be able to compare and contrast the views of different thinkers on some of the more important issues raised by these texts.

There will be two 70-minute lectures each week (excluding a 10 min break during each lecture) supplemented by regular seminars.  The course is text-based, so emphasis will be placed on reading, analysing and assessing the arguments of these texts.

Upon completion of this module, students should be able to: (1) read and analyse selected texts in nineteenth century political thought; (2) express the ideas and arguments in the texts and how they relate to each other; (3) critically assess (to some degree) the cogency and persuasiveness of the arguments in the texts.

The module is text-based, focusing on selected works by three key thinkers in nineteenth century Western political thought: Marx, Mill and Nietzsche. 

Marx, The Communist Manifesto

Marx, The German Ideology

Mill, On Liberty

Mill, Considerations on Representative Government

Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality